England captain Ben Stokes has stated that he does not intend to change his mind about retiring from one-day cricket and competing in this year's ICC Men's Cricket World Cup as he aims to take the time away from the pitch to explore having surgery for his persistent knee issue.
Many believed that Stokes would come out of ODI retirement to assist his team try and duplicate their efforts from the shortest format and defend their 50-over World Cup crown in India after helping England win the ICC Men's T20 World Cup in Australia last year.
However, Stokes stated that he is still not playing 50-over cricket and is looking forward to rest following the start of the fifth and final Ashes Test at The Oval on Thursday.
"I'm retired. [My knee] is something I want to get sorted. [Between the Ashes and India] is a good time to have some serious in-depth conversations about what is potentially something I could do where I can bowl without worrying about my knee," Sky Sports quoted Stokes as saying ahead of the fifth Ashes Test against Australia.
"Those are conversations we will be able to have during that good time off. [Being an all-rounder] is something I have done since I was a kid. Wanting to be involved in the game is something that has got the best out of me," he said.
"It has been frustrating not being able to have the same impact and play the same role I have done for the last 10 years. Hopefully, I can get my knee sorted," said the England captain.
With England's next Test series not until they travel to India to play Rohit Sharma's team at the start of 2024, Stokes acknowledged that the fact that he cannot bowl due to his knee issue is forcing him to contemplate getting surgery after the Ashes.
"It's something I obviously want to get sorted. The times in which I've seen specialists and stuff like that there has been cricket around. So, as it's been manageable, we've just cracked on. But I think that is a good time to have some serious conversations with medics about what is potentially something I could do to get a role in which I can bowl without having to worry about my knee. Those are conversations we will be able to have in that time off," Stokes said.
Stokes acknowledged that he is nearing the conclusion of his career rather than the beginning, but he stated he still wants to stick around to play in the upcoming Ashes series in Australia at the end of 2025.
"How this series has gone and how close we were, it does make you think when we go to Australia, do we have a better chance than the last few times we've been there. Hopefully, it'd be nice to go out to Australia in 2025 and have a good chance of winning," Stokes pondered.
With England having already relinquished the famous urn to their fierce rivals, the attention turns to the nation's capital this week as the hosts attempt to level the series at 2-2 and salvage something from a series they have dominated at certain times.
England on Wednesday named an unchanged Playing XI for the fifth and final Test of the closely-fought Ashes series with senior pacer James Anderson included.
